South Carolina basketball is now 20-3 and 8-2 in the SEC after a home win over the Ole Miss Rebels. The game was a wild ride as the Gamecocks were ahead for 38 minutes but saw a 17-point lead drop all the way to just 1 point before pulling things out in the end.
Collin Murray-Boyles was the best player on the court (though, Allen Flanigan and Matthew Murrell's offensive excellence challenged him in this one) as he scored 16 points, pulled down 9 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots, including a monstrous rejection of a dunk from 7'5" Jamarion Sharp.
Ta'Lon Cooper and Meechie Johnson orchestrated the offense beautifully, and Johnson was great in the drive-and-kick game, leading the team with 8 assists.
Though the numbers don't suggest it, Carolina played pretty good defense across the board (other than BJ Mack trying to defend the much taller Sharp). Allen Flanigan and Matthew Murrell made a ton of difficult midrange shots. The Gamecocks got really good low post defensive efforts from Collin Murray-Boyles and Josh Gray as the duo led a USC defense that forced Ole Miss into 3-10 shooting on layup attempts.
There were plenty of negatives for South Carolina basketball in this one (more on those later), but when all was said and done, the Gamecocks picked up a big win over a team that was nearly ranked this week in the AP poll.
If USC beats Vanderbilt on Saturday, and Auburn beats Alabama and Florida on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively, next Tuesday's game in Auburn between Lamont Paris and Bruce Pearl's teams could be a top-10 matchup.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Up 1: Collin Murray-Boyles
Now that he is back in the swing of things after battling mononucleosis, Collin Murray-Boyles has established himself as one of the best freshmen in the country. Another really good showing on Tuesday night saw the Columbia native go off for 16 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.
CMB was the top scorer for the Gamecocks and made 8-11 shots from the field, but he was also an elite defender. His most memorable play of the game came on that end of the floor as he blocked a Jamarion Sharp dunk attempt at its apex (which is really high considering he is 7'5") after an Ole Miss run erased a 17-point Carolina lead.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Up 2: A Clean Game
South Carolina basketball has won plenty of ugly games this season. Games that are marred by fouls and turnovers and slow pace have seemed to make Lamont Paris' team comfortable and their opponents uneasy.
Tuesday night's game against Ole Miss, though, was a different type of game. The pace wasn't lightning-quick, but it was faster than many other Gamecock contests, and the team's errors were minimalized. USC only turned the ball over 10 times (right around their season average but with just 4 live ball steals) and only fouled the Rebels 10 times, as well.
Adding to the cleanliness of this game, Carolina (mostly) shot the ball well. Outside of the struggles of BJ Mack and Meechie Johnson as shooters, the Gamecocks shot 24-42 from the field and 8-18 from 3, an extremely efficient night at Colonial Life Arena.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Up 3: The Davis/Stute Combination
Thanks to Josh Gray and Collin Murray-Boyles stepping up in SEC play, Myles Stute and Zach Davis get to spend almost all of their time playing on the wing, and the combination of the two players has been huge for Carolina. On Tuesday, Davis was a pest on the perimeter defensively (having the 2nd-best defensive rating on the team behind CMB), and Stute was a marksman shooting from outside (4-5 on 3-pointers).
Moving forward, the Gamecocks will need these two players to continue playing their roles well. Davis starting takes some of the defensive load off of more offensively-important players like Ta'Lon Cooper and Meechie Johnson, and having Stute come off the bench provides some needed shooting punch with the second unit.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Down 1: Settling on Offense
The Gamecocks started really hot with 7-13 shooting on 3-pointers. The hot start hurt the team's shot selection the rest of the way, however, as they settled for quick outside attempts or unnecessarily deep shots for stretches. When those shots stopped falling in the 2nd half, Ole Miss came back.
In the final 20 minutes, Carolina shot 32.3% from the field and 15.4% from behind the 3-point line. Much of that had to do with settling on offense.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Down 2: Free Throws
The Gamecocks shot 3-7 from the free throw line for the game. That's not good enough.
Carolina should be taking much more than just 7 shots from the foul line each game, especially with players like Collin Murray-Boyles, BJ Mack, Josh Gray, and Meechie Johnson who all are capable of drawing a lot of contact in the paint.
The 43% efficiency from the stripe, obviously, is horrible, but that number would rise (theoretically) with more attempts. The Gamecocks' reliance on taking outside shots in this game contributed to the lack of free throws. If Carolina an fix the shot selection issue, they should get to the line more often, as well.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Down 3: Top Scorers Not Scoring
BJ Mack and Meechie Johnson are the two leading scorers on this team. However, neither player scored much against Ole Miss, combining for just 12 points on 4-18 shooting.
Mack had a tough game all around, but Johnson managed to be effective in other ways, pulling down 5 rebounds from his guard positions and, more importantly, dishing out 8 assists.
Lamont Paris will need these two players to be better on offense as 68 points won't be enough to win every game on the schedule.